WEST NORTH CENTRAL

2005 SALES FORECAST +3.3% WEST NORTH CENTRAL

An improving manufacturing climate, solid housing growth and a bumper crop in corn in Minnesota and North Dakota all are contributing to a pretty economic picture in the upper Midwest. The robust Minneapolis economy is posting solid numbers in the residential, commercial and industrial markets, according to several sources. While the Minneapolis housing market is currently a bit sluggish, with over nearly 20,000 total building permits issued through September, it's one of the largest home-building markets in the United States. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis says the city and its suburbs added 46,000 households and almost 100,000 people between 2000 and 2003. Surprisingly active housing markets in the Dakotas and decent manufacturing numbers in the Kansas City and St. Louis markets add breadth to the economic recovery in this region.

ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES (in millions of dollars)

EW Estimates

Final

Final

Final

Final

Forecast

Forecast

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

West North Central

3,768.2

3,657.6

3,645.3

3,710.9

3,952.8

4,082.9

Iowa

497.0

482.4

480.7

489.4

521.3

538.5

Kansas

379.8

368.7

367.4

374.1

398.4

411.6

Minnesota

1,339.9

1,300.5

1,296.1

1,319.5

1,405.5

1,451.8

Missouri

1,166.2

1,132.0

1,128.2

1,148.5

1,223.3

1,263.6

Nebraska

152.9

148.4

147.9

150.6

160.4

165.7

North Dakota

95.7

92.9

92.6

94.3

100.4

103.7

South Dakota

136.7

132.7

132.2

134.6

143.4

148.1

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

Actual

in thousands

EC

M

C

G

West North Central

59,006

1,229.2

5,400.7

1,488.4

Iowa

8,690

221.9

766.0

222.3

Cedar Rapids MSA

753

17.2

62.7

10.7

Des Moines MSA

1,909

20.2

185.1

35.7

Dubuque MSA

177

9.4

30.3

3.5

Iowa City MSA

356

5.2

31.0

26.6

Sioux City MSA

305

10.3

33.8

7.1

Waterloo-Cedar Falls MSA

401

14.1

39.4

10.2

Kansas

6,999

172.0

674.4

228.2

Lawrence MSA

438

3.5

25.4

12.3

Topeka MSA

536

6.5

54.3

22.4

Wichita MSA

2,587

57.3

142.3

33.3

Minnesota

16,773

354.4

1,526.4

363.4

Duluth MSA

649

7.0

68.5

20.4

Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA

11,359

210.6

1,017.8

213.0

Rochester MSA

409

10.5

64.6

7.4

St. Cloud MSA

NA

17.0

50.6

11.7

Missouri

17,112

317.3

1,551.5

384.4

Kansas City MSA

NA

83.9

542.1

128.1

St. Louis MSA

NA

143.2

822.2

138.5

Springfield MSA

677

17.3

103.9

17.6

Nebraska

5,337

101.7

486.0

152.6

Lincoln MSA

1,129

15.6

85.1

34.0

Omaha MSA

2,745

31.3

252.7

50.7

North Dakota

1,733

23.6

178.0

67.3

Bismarck MSA

288

2.8

31.9

10.2

Fargo-Moorhead MSA

674

8.3

62.3

13.9

Grand Forks MSA

260

3.3

26.7

11.0

South Dakota

2,362

38.3

218.4

70.2

Rapid City MSA

476

3.5

35.6

6.6

Sioux Falls MSA

725

11.9

77.2

9.9

NA — Not available

MSA — Metropolitan Statistical Area

PMSA — Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area

CMSA — Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area

EC — Electrical contractor employees for April 2004. Electrical Wholesaling estimates these numbers based on Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns.

M — Manufacturing employees for August 2004. Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

C — Commercial account employees (professional and business services, retail trade, financial activities, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services) for August 2004.

Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

G — Government employees for August 2004. Source: Current Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Webinars

The North American electrical wholesaling industry is being rocked by mergers & acquisitions, advances in technology, new competition from offshore and an uncertain economy. In this 60-minute webinar, Electrical Wholesaling Chief Editor Jim Lucy will discuss the changes in the electrical market now having the most impact on electrical distributors, electrical manufacturers and independent manufacturers’ reps....More